Dice spinning

[Chupacabra]

Boredom plain and simple. I notice that alot in my own game group. If the game starts picking up then magically the dice stop spinning, the laptops get shut, and everyone is focused. Not a whole lot they players can do. GM's gotta pick up the pace or the one bored player needs to calm the heck down.

 

[BlackMoria]

I don't care about the causes of dice spinning but I have curbed it somewhat with a simple rule (I am the DM)

If the dice crosses to my side of the table due to being spun, its 'mine'.

Of course, I thank them for my contribution to my dice collection.

Once a couple of dice found a new home with me, the dice spinning has been greatly reduced.

The last time someone spun a dice, they bodily belly flopped onto the table to grab it before it crossed into my area. Pretty funny.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

It seems like there is one at every table... Someone who sits there spinning their dice like little tops. They occasionally screw up and launch their dice across the table or floor.

<snip>

It bugs the bajeezes out of me, but I'm not the DM, and I'm the newest comer to the group.

Yeah I know. There are people of all kinds at every table. Trust me, I'm one of them. And it isn't cause I'm bored. I bounce my legs 95% of the time that I'm sitting down. I chew on pen tops. I roll dice (although I don't spin them). I click pen tops. I fidget with anything one the table that will make a noise (even fingernale clippers!). The thing is, I often don't realize I'm doing anything until my wife starts laughing at me. Then I figure it out.

She used to get really mad. She got mad because she thought I was bored and she thought I wasn't paying attention. Then she learned something about me: if you want me to pay attention, make sure my hands have something to do. If I am clicking a pen top, you can bet your bottom dollar that I am focusing on what you are saying much more than if they are folded nice and neatly on my lap. Once she learned that, she began to understand me.

It wasn't about making me conform to her standard of "acceptable behavior." It was about her getting over her issue with my need for motion. So, she decided one day to learn to appreciate the fact that I give her physical evidence that I'm really into what she's saying. Most of them don't bother her. The few that do she laughs at.

Then, I used to get mad at her laughing at me. It made me really self-conscious. So I would quite was I was doing and sulk because I was embarassed. But then I had to learn something: I had to learn that just as she got used to my fidgeting - I had to get used to her laughing. Her laughing was not meant to humiliate me, it was her way of saying that she found my need to fidget amuzing and the reason she noticed it was because the particular thing I was doing annoyed the crap out of her! [Flipping open and closing the fingernale clippers is a sure one at that. I do it because of the click. She hates the click!] So, I had to learn that her laugh was telling me that I was more than welcme to fidget, but she'd prefer I picked something else.

Long story: there are people who fidget. There are people who bounce their legs. If he's rolling dice because he's bored, that's one thing. If he's like me - he may be rolling dice because he's really into it and it helps him focus. If it keeps you from focusing, then perhaps he simply needs to find a new fidget. Buy him a worry stone. Buy him one of those squishy balls that have the gel inside. By him something he can do with his hands that doesn't make much noise and won't annoy the crap out of you.

Chances are if he's a fidgeter and you force him to lose the fidget you'll be ruining his game completely. It shouldn't be about ruining a game. It should be about compromise - find a fidget that works.

How do you all feel about dice spinning?

Personally, I find dice spinning annoying when done around other people who aren't dice spinning. But as I said above - I've come to learn that it does not mean they're bored always.

If they are doing it because they are bored, that's one thing. If they are doing it because they are a fidgeter, then you all need to accept their need to fidget and find something they can do that isn't annoying. Worry stones are great for this!

EDIT:

I find it unfortunate that so many people automatically jump to "penalties." "Do it my way or there will be consequences!" That's so unimaginative and honestly cold-hearted.

If they're bored and it's your table, then likely you're the DM. Improve the story next time.

If they're fidgeters, then your penalties just ruin the game totally. Trust me, I know what it is like to need to have something in my hands to truly concentrate. I can sit still for hours if you give me a pen top ot chew on or a worry stone. Take those away from me and I will lose interest in 2 minutes or less.

Don't penalize peolpe. Make your environment more gamer friendly. It is okay to say that dice rolling is annoying. But rather than punish, be proactive in finding a compromise that works for all people!

 

[Drowbane]

If the dice crosses to my side of the table due to being spun, its 'mine'.

Of course, I thank them for my contribution to my dice collection.

Once a couple of dice found a new home with me, the dice spinning has been greatly reduced.

Yeah, good luck with trying to confiscate dice from someone with a spine.

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

Im a dice roller. When it's not my turn i roll and i roll and i roll to hopefully roll all the bad numbers so statistically i get the good rolls on my turn. Silly i know but it works occassionally.

My sister draws during game time. She'll even work on full blown art projects while gaming. Part of this is due to the fact that she has limited time to work on art school projects but she claims it helps her focus cause she has a short attention span.

One friends has a DS he plays on when it's not his turn. or Starts playing theme music which occassionally i have to have him shut off. I find good music during the game distracting.

Dont have any dice spnners though or dice stackers.

 

[Drowbane]

Im a dice roller. When it's not my turn i roll and i roll and i roll to hopefully roll all the bad numbers so statistically i get the good rolls on my turn. Silly i know but it works occassionally.

My sister draws during game time. She'll even work on full blown art projects while gaming. Part of this is due to the fact that she has limited time to work on art school projects but she claims it helps her focus cause she has a short attention span.

One friends has a DS he plays on when it's not his turn. or Starts playing theme music which occassionally i have to have him shut off. I find good music during the game distracting.

Dont have any dice spnners though or dice stackers.

Ahh yes... dicestacking... I do that too.

 

[Gryffyn]

I'm just a fiddly kind of person. I guess my boredom threshhold is lower than most. I spin dice, stack dice, twirl pens. Mostly, I try to paint miniatures during slow spots in the game to keep myself occupied. I recognize that in any group RPG, individuals will not always have something to do, so I don't mind other people spinning dice.

In a way, I look at it as being similar to some of the poker-chip tricks I see poker players do. It gives them something to fiddle with while they think or wait.

 

[kenobi65]

This sums me up as well. Even when I am not bored I still fidget. If I have rings on I move them around. Stack dice.

Ditto. It's usually when my character isn't involved in whatever's going on at that moment, but sometimes it's just plain fidgeting.

 

[Woas]

I don't have a problem with it. Even as a DM I spin my d20. Sometimes even while I'll be talking/explaining to the group. It's not really a symbol of disinterest. Just something to do other than sit there.

 

[Oryan77]

My girlfriend doodles like a madman when she's just sitting there and there's a pen & paper infront of her. She did this when she'd be in class in college and she does it at the gaming table.

You should see her notes for the game. Just last session another player looked at her notes to help her find some treasure they haven't split yet. He saw her sheets of paper with doodles all around the edges of the paper and he laughed at her. It's always designs around the paper that makes it look like a fancy picture frame.

I don't think people necessarily do these things out of boredom of the game. It's just boredom of sitting in one spot and listening without actually doing anything physical. I wouldn't take it as a sign that the DM is boring.

She also plays with her leftover food on her plate when she's done eating. I'm a slow eater, so she sits there making food faces and arranging peas around the rim of the plate while she's talking to me waiting for me to finish eating. We've gone to nice restaurants and I've had to tell her to stop cause she doesn't realize she's mashing her remaining peas in the rest of her ice cream.